McLaren weighing up double DRS

Last update The 02/08/2012 at 21:04 - Published on 02/08/2012 at 21:00

By Eurosport - The 02/08/2012 at 21:04

McLaren is continuing to evaluate the introduction of a double DRS for later this year, despite the concept being banned for 2013.

Mercedes was the first to pioneer the design at the start of this season and, although a number of outfits gave up on copying it - because of costs and question marks about its ultimate benefit - Lotus is now planning to race its own version soon.

With great intrigue about the potential benefits that Lotus's system will bring – with it hoped it can deliver a big straight-line speed advantage in races – McLaren has revealed that it is still keeping its own project on the back burner.

Sporting director Sam Michael told AUTOSPORT that McLaren was being mindful about where best to focus its resources – but that double DRS was on the list of developments it could introduce over the remainder of the year.

"It's not like the Lotus one, but we have got a system like that," he explained. "As for the chances of us bringing it, I don't know yet.

"We will look at all the programmes and see if it is feasible, because it requires work and it detracts from normal upgrades as well. So it is quite difficult to make the system work, as Lotus are discovering.

"But like anything in the pit lane, if we see a new idea then the guys jump on it, they analyse it and, if we decide that it will be a benefit to the team, then we will bring it."

F1 teams have agreed to a number of regulation changes for 2013 that will effectively ban teams from pursuing double DRS, which means any work done on it this year will not be carried over for next year.

Michael said that that was another factor to be taken in to account – as would the amount of benefit Lotus will get out of its own system.

"There is possibly the question of a waster resource on it," he explained. "As for Lotus, they are damn quick already, and if they add that then they will be even quicker."